


Apologia Machairas - A Knife's Apology

by NoTittyBimbo



Category: Realicide - Grej (Web Series)
Genre: Meta, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-13 00:35:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28894512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoTittyBimbo/pseuds/NoTittyBimbo
Summary: NoTittyBimbo apologizes for the Knife Fic
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	Apologia Machairas - A Knife's Apology

Apologia Machairas

Farthys, like many before him, has requested an apology for my short story "A Blade in the Woods," known by most as simply "the Knife Fic." He is not alone in this; there are many citizens of Jreg twitter -  _ jrittizens _ , in their native tongue - who disapprove of the Knife Fic, and wish I would express a similar disapproval. When the Knife Fic was released, many responded as though it had caused them harm. One, more recently, said the Knife Fic caused them "emotional trauma," and said it was something I must have written "for spite or for shock value, not out of love." Yet the crime I stand accused of is nebulous. I forced no one to read it, was clear about its contents, and have been told it was well written "for what it is." So I find myself in a position not unlike that of Socrates, faced by an angry populace, asked to apologize for crimes that I do not understand.

The story itself is not innovative enough to deserve special recognition, at least not in its interpretation of the characters. Darwinist is, in my story and in the source works, a bigot, a survivalist, and a violator. Likewise, Communalist is kind, naive, and curious in both works. Similarly, while the premise of the Knife Fic is gruesome, I am not the inventor of knifeplay, nor am I the first to apply my own BDSM interests to characters in a fan work. The only things vaguely unique about the work - the reimagination of Communalist as a hive mind, Darwinist's use of poisons and other less brash, more underhanded techniques, the borrowings from magical realism - are more or less ignored. Yet my story is still uniquely called out, so I must apologize for writing a fanwork that faithfully depicted two characters in a BDSM scenario.

Or perhaps I am criticized not for my work itself but for the effect my work had on other  _ jrittizens _ . Many Jreg fan works make the Knife Fic look tame - Meat Grinder (Mellow), Testing Waters (NotTragedies), the Piss Fic (Naughtager) - but those all were released afterwards, and many were compared to the Knife Fic, either directly or as parts of a succession of controversial Jreg fan works. Of course, that it had successors suggests that creators were inspired by my work, and that these successors found an audience suggests that readers were excited by the controversy. This is the crime that I must apologize for, then: to create a work of fiction that intrigues readers and writers alike. May no  _ jrittizen  _ dare to write such a work again.

Yet the tone of some  _ jrittizens  _ suggests that my crime comes not in the work itself, nor in its effects, but in its intent. People allege that I wrote the Knife Fic to intentionally break norms on Jritter, a community united by its (often sexual) affection for human depictions of radical political ideologies. I, in writing the knife fic, revealed a desire to shock and disturb the otherwise peaceful community that often drew erotic pictures of aspiring tyrants. Like Eris with a golden apple did I descend upon Jritter, gifting my knife fic to no one in particular to sow discord at the tranquil jredding of a genocide denier and an "ephebophile." How dare I look upon the meek _ jrittizens _ , armed with only their unread copies of The Ego and its Own and a humble collection of reclaimed slurs, and try to create controversy? I apologize for displaying such apathy for the fragile harmony of the Jritter community.

Of course, some will say that I am unlike Socrates, and those people are right. Socrates continued his philosophical mission unto death, but I have neglected my own mission, the creation of fiction about penetration with melee weapons. Yet I am so pretentious as to adopt his style of apology, stopping just short of suggesting naked exercise as my punishment. For Socrates, his tongue-in-cheek apology was not just some rejection of the Athenians' opinion, but a threat - "my work cannot be stopped by your heckles." So too must I continue to do my work. Even before this apology, I had become intrigued by Cult Communalist, and his more aggressive, more exclusive personality when compared to Communalist. While Darwinist could never be passive, it would be interesting to see him take a more reactive role. Therefore, let me prove how sincere my apology is, by applying the lessons I've learned to a new Knife Fic, "We the Knife Holders." I will show everyone exactly what my fellow  _ jrittizens  _ have taught me.

Bibliography

Bimbo, No T. "A Blade in the Woods." Published 08 June 2020. Archive of Our Own. https://archiveofourown.org/works/24603469. Accessed 21 January 2021.

Bimbo, No T. "Prey and Hunter." Published 19 June 2020. Archive of Our Own. https://archiveofourown.org/works/24801736. Accessed 21 January 2021.

Mellow, Small. "Meat Grinder." Republished 11 October 2020. Archive of Our Own. https://archiveofourown.org/works/26436175. Accessed 22 January 2021.

Naughtager, Neo. "A Based Proposition." Published 22 July 2020. https://archiveofourown.org/works/25434484. Accessed 22 July 2020.

NotTragedies, IWriteJrins. "Testing Waters." Published 10 June 2020. Archive of Our Own. https://archiveofourown.org/works/24638383. Accessed 22 January 2021.


End file.
